Goodwin returns GBP200,000 a year from pension

Former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has bowed to public pressure and agreed to hand back some of his pension.

The move will see him taking a cut of more than £200,000 a year, bringing his annual pension down from £555,000 to £342,500. Originally his pension was £703,000 a year but this was reduced when he took a tax free lump sum of £2.7 million.

His offer was accepted by RBS and the government, with chancellor Alistair Darling saying Goodwin was ‘doing the right thing’. But trade union Unite didn’t feel the cut was sufficient. Rob MacGregor, national officer of Unite, said: “This decision will do nothing for the thousands of staff who have already lost their jobs within RBS.”